All People Matter

Elections in Japan have resulted in, to some degree, a shift to the left. Beyond ideological issues, the long-standing ruling party has been booted out and a more competitive two-party system for Japan may be in the offing.

The Democrats have soundly defeated the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Do not view these party names through the prism of American party labels. The Liberal Democrats are the party of the right. The LDP has held power in Japan for all but a few months since the end of World War II.

“In his manifesto, Mr Hatoyama said he wanted to improve people’s lives through increased welfare spending. “I want to approach policy from the perspective of the citizen, not leaving it to the hands of bureaucracy,” he wrote. “I want to create a horizontal society bound by human ties, not a vertically-connected society of vested interests.” Mr Hatoyama says he wants to raise spending on healthcare, child support and subsidies for farmers. But he has ruled out raising taxes to do this – prompting critics to ask where the money will come from.”

( Above –Japan as seen from space.)

In regards to the ideological shift as it impacts international policy, Democrats say they will reevaluate the Japanese military relationship with the United States and may no longer assist in the refueling of American ships headed to the War in Iraq. Japan may now look more towards it’s Asian neighbors and less towards the United States on security issues.

Domestically, the ideological shift is caught up with what is the larger story of the election. The excerpt from Mr. Hatoyama’s profile gives some sense of what has been promised. Japan’s economy has been stagnant for many years and people in Japan are concerned about the impact of globalization.

Yet articles I have read about the election suggest that weariness with the long-ruling LDP and a desire for a more competitive political system are a big reason why the Democrats have won. There is a widespread belief—seemingly correct—that the LDP has held power for too long and that the political system is rigged to a favor a certain few over the needs of the many.

For this desire for change to have real meaning, it will soon enough have to be accompanied by policy changes and a greater transparency in how Japan is governed.

Above is a video of about one minute and 40 seconds of a barge slowly moving down the Ohio River on a nice summer’s day . If you turn on your speakers you’ll hear crickets, the wind, and some general background noise.

I filmed the video from the Eden Park Overlook in Cincinnati, Ohio.

You can look at the barge and think of the direction you’re headed in life. You can think of the direction that society and the world is headed. Though the barge in the video is only going one way, you can bet it will at some point turn around and go up the river the other way.

It’s possible that the barge in the video was on course for the Mississippi River.

There are options about what direction we can follow and where we can go.

You can watch the wake the barge makes and think of the effects your actions have on others. You can think of people trapped by circumstance in a world they did not make themselves.

You can look at the Ohio River and think about how the Ohio connects to the Mississippi and how the Mississippi connects to the sea. Everything is connected.

You can listen to the crickets and think about bugs and insects.

You can look across the river to the Kentucky side of the river. Not far from where the barge is there are a number of bridges that take you across the river. You could think about the ability for gaps to be bridged. Or you could think about how you would likely drown if you tried to swim across the river to reach the other side.

At the bottom of this post is the latest Texas Progressive Alliance weekly round-up. The Texas Progressive Alliance is a confederation of the best political bloggers in Texas. Immediately below this paragraph are a number of links I’ve compiled to recall the life and work of Ted Kennedy. These links are from a post I made just a few days ago, but that I feel deserve another go-round.

The American Prospect and The Nation are good liberal magazines. These magazines are strong resources to learn about many of the causes Senator Kennedy fought for and to renew your own commitment to political liberalism.

To win the fights still to come, we need leaders like Senator Kennedy and we need the hard work of average citizens.

Normally I’d oppose this because developers are hyper-sleazy and I assume our Houston city government is rigged to favor developers over citizens.

In this case however, I find the opposition to the building by the affluent citizens of the impacted neighborhoods to be obnoxious. These people have yard signs and bumper stickers and a web site.

The neighborhood groups opposing the building are the so-called Boulevard Oaks Civic Club and the so-called Southampton Civic Club.

Where have these groups been in the past in promoting a citywide agenda to help make Houston a more decent place to live? In the time since this issue has been on the table—at least 18 months—where have these groups been in helping a cross-section of Houston fight developers and fight the overall blight that is a well-deserved trademark of Houston as a whole.

Many folks in Houston don’t have the resources for an organized opposition to runaway construction where they live.

Above is a picture of the Valero Refinery at 9701 Manchester in Houston. The picture is one I took a few nights ago as I took an evening ride in Houston. People live in close vicinity to this refinery. The air stinks. I’m not saying that this specific refinery is especially dirty. I have no way of knowing that.

I’m just saying that plenty of people in Houston live near these Blade Runner type scenes and live near the bad air and noisy trucks and trains that serve these industrial facilities. Nobody cares so much about folks living near refineries and chemical plants. Here is the latest Houston Chronicle story about a bad air alert in the Ship Channel area.

With the permit a go, I simply hope that the building is built. If for some reason the building is not constructed, maybe a refinery and extension of the Ship Channel to the Ashby High Rise area would be a good idea. Such a project would create jobs that are no doubt needed by people who live near refineries and the Ship Channel.

The American Prospect and The Nation are good liberal magazines. These magazines are strong resources to learn about many of the causes Senator Kennedy fought for and to renew your own commitment to political liberalism.

To win the fights still to come, we need leaders like Senator Kennedy and we need the hard work of average citizens.

Despite the fact that these candidates are all Democrats, none I’m aware of have yet to comment on the death of Senator Ted Kennedy. None have offered any support to health care efforts that might well help many uninsured citizens of Houston get coverage. Health care reform was a lifetime concern of Senator Kennedy.

Health care reform is an issue with a direct impact on Houston.

These three candidates have actively sought out the support of local Democrats in Houston. I hope that these Democrats running for Mayor see party affiliation as more than simply something to be used when it suits them and ignored when inconvenient.

Not one serious Republican in Houston thought his or her city was worth putting forth a Republican vision for the future of Houston. Democrats should fill this void with strong leadership that puts the values of the Democratic Party at the center of where Houston should move in the years ahead.

The lie is that our Houston city elections are non-partisan. The fact is that candidates for city office can and often do make note of their party affiliation. It is time for the Democratic Party in Houston and Harris County to assert control of Houston City Government that voters of Houston seem prepared to allow at the ballot box.

(Update–Gene Locke has made a Twitter comment on Senator Kennedy’s death. That’s a small start.)

If you take a walk on Lake Michigan waterfront in Kenosha, Wisconsin on a day it is raining, you will be left to yourself and your thoughts. I took such a walk two weeks ago. Above is a picture I took while on my walk.

I’ve never been to Kenosha on a sunny day, but I am sure it is quite light and bright when the sun is shining. For my purposes, the dark day worked fine.

Though the rain kept folks away when I was in town, people do visit Kenosha and there are things to see and do in Kenosha. Even in the rain there were folks fishing at the lakefront.

Legislation to guarantee American workers paid sick time was recently introduced in the House of Representatives. We’ll see if it ever passes. With a Democratic President and large Democratic majorities in both Houses of Congress, you’d think long overdue legislation to make sure everybody has paid sick days would pass easily.

You hear a lot of talk about family and children in the United States. But really what many have in America is contempt for any group of people who need some help to get by in day-to-day life. Many have this contempt even if the help required is something that people have earned by virtue of the work they have done.

Below is the weekly Texas Progressive Alliance round-up. The Texas Progressive Alliance is a confederation of the best political bloggers in Texas.

Above is a photo of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley taken at the observation deck on the top floor of the Sears Tower in Chicago. I was at the Sears Tower two weeks ago and in walked Mayor Daley. I took this picture as he greeted the public.

Over at TexasKaos, lightseeker connects the dots between the fear mongering, health care reform, and history. He throws in the return of the militias for good measure. If armed and frightened groups are reappearing in Iowa, how long before they show up in Texas. You do remember the Republic of Texas movement, don’t you? See it all in Fear, Health Care and History: A Reflection Updated! – Return of the militias

Democratic candidate for Governor of Texas Tom Schieffer recently released the statement at the bottom of this post about where Texas ranks in the nation in a number of important quality of life indicators.

( A number of Houston-area bloggers had lunch with Mr. Schieffer earlier this week. I was at that lunch. I’ll have more to say in the week ahead about what I thought of Mr. Schieffer.)

Mr. Schieffer gets it right that Texas is in many respects a child-hating mess of a place. Though he is wrong to blame it all on incumbent Republican Governor Rick Perry. Governor Perry is a hard-hearted man who easily turns his back on the suffering of others. But it is Democrats who have run Texas since statehood. Democrats ran this state until not so long ago.

It is not as if Governor Perry entered a Garden of Eden and paved it over. Texas has long had serious issues that have gone unaddressed or have been made intentionally worse to help make the already powerful even more powerful.

Democrats should not get a free pass on the harm they have done to Texas. The Democratic Party in Texas has yet to earn the trust of liberals and progressives, and has yet to earn the trust of hard-working Texans who need some help in life. (Which is not to suggest that many hard-working Texans are not to blame for helping to elect folks like George W. Bush and Rick Perry.)

One thing I enjoy about Mr. Schieffer’s statement below is his reference to a “parallel universe.” I wonder if bloggers get paid big money in the parallel universe. Dr. Max Tegmark at M.I.T is a leading proponent of the theory of multiple universes. Here is his web page on that subject.

I have a picture of the world’s largest boar that was in a nearby pen. But this picture is better.

The big “Please do not touch” sign seemed to be as much about Swine Flu as the fact that the boar might attack you.

Around the swine pavilion at the fair where many posters instructing you to wash your hands after visiting the exhibit. The signs said that if you do not wash your hands after visiting the exhibit, that you might contract the swine flu.